What do Mother’s love to do most?  Brag about their children.  I am doing that today.

Some of you may recall the post I did on folding an Easter Bunny napkin.  Today I am posting a napkin Debbie made.

Can’t you just see this napkin setting in the middle of a pretty red, green, gold or any color plate?  It would “wow” my guests for sure.

I am “hoping” Martha, you know,  Martha Stewart whose instructions I gave you for Easter Bunny fold sees this so Deb can get her napkin in a national magazine!

Well I am her Mother so I can dream big for her.

I thought they were cute beyond words and loved the fold she put on them and wanted to make sure you had a chance to see how talented she is

My sister, Carol,  loves to create and is quite talented at many things.  She cooks, sews, knits, crochets, quilts and on and on.  Recently we were together and she was sharing some of the things she was doing so at my request she has sent me pictures and I am going to share a few with you this week.

Aren’t they just the cutest things you have ever seen….Thanks for sharing Carol….and there is much more coming.

Recently I had an inquiry asking what are sack towels, what is the fabric like, do they wash easily?  It made me decide a little Sack Towel History might be enjoyable for everyone. Here are comments from AnnTheGram website in September, 2008.

“Flour sacks are originally from the old flour sacks and feed sacks.  Back in the 30s, women started utilizing the empty sacks and made clothing from them, dish towels, pillowcases, clothespin bags, etc.  Times were bad with the depression.  “Sack dresses” originated during this time period.  They came back in the 60s again too.  The women begged the manufacturers of chicken feed, horse feed, flour and sugar to please make the sacks softer to the touch and try to add some color to them.  Hence, the feedsack quilts of the 30s originated with beautiful colorful prints.  Win/win situation.  Chickens ate well and you had a purty new dress.

The sizing on these towels are irregular today because they are still holding true to what a grain sack was back when.  The grain sack was sewn on one side and bottom and then, the ladies removed the stitching and viola, 30 x 29 inches, etc.  In fact, if the stitching was left in place, it was a perfect, already made pillowcase.  Also, in the 30s, they saved the thread from the side seam and later used to hem any of the items.”

Think how many trees were saved with sack towels…guess that is another subject!  We love sack towels at Creative Chics, check out just a few of the new designs Deb and I have online at www.creativechics.com.

We hope all of you have had a wonderful holiday season and send our very best wishes for a 2010 full of love, joy and peace…

I am not sure I am ready for the holiday to end but reality tells me it is time to get some blog posts up for the month and let everyone know we are back in action.

Creative Chics had a phenomenal holiday online considering it was only six months into our venture.  I have only one designer fabric apron left in my inventory and have not taken time to count how many I made between November 1st and Christmas.  Deb sold Christmas bags like candy to kids.  We certainly appreciate everyone’s support and look forward to 2010 and showing off some new projects and designs.

These photos are sack towel embroidery designs that will be posted online today.  These vintage animals are adorable and towels can be personalized.

We made gifts for Christmas for family members that were so appreciated we decided to offer them online.

Here is an example of dog towels I made for my families pets.

Deb embroidered family initials on large spa sized bath towels that were a huge hit. 

We want to thank everyone again, family, friends and all the new friends we have made and look forward to a fun, fulfilling and very creative 2010.

Deb and I are attending a Christmas charity event with a few of our homemade items today.  We will be at the Shawnee Presbyterian Church, 6837 Nieman Rd, Shawnee, KS 66203 between the hours of 10:00 and 4:00.  If your out doing some shopping and can take time we would love for you to stop by and say hello.

Here are a couple pictures of the busy sewing room of Deb this week, busy, busy, busy…orders everywhere

I was invited to participate at Fave Crafts in their presentation of sewing tutorials for the holiday.

I took an apron already in my supply of inventory and here is the result.  Click on the link to view:

http://www.favecrafts.com/Holiday-Sewing/Holiday-Apron-Tutorial

Yesterday we had our 100th sale when an apron in our Creative Chics store was sold to a gentleman in Spain!!!

We opened our store July 24th and in 84 days hit the 100th sale online mark!!  We think that is awesome.   We had set that goal to occur by year end so needless to say we are thrilled with the response we have had to our inventory of items.

This week I sold aprons to a lady in Canada, a lady in Finland and the gentleman in Spain.  Shows you what a small world we truly live in as probably 25% of our sales are international.  I know I speak for all of the Chic’s in saying how exciting this year has been for us, so “thank you”.

Thank you so much friends, family, and people around the world, we appreciate you!

To celebrate with you we are giving away three lavender sachets free with any order and applying a 5% discount on orders of $25.00 or more and a 10% discount on orders of $100.00 or more with any purchase today through Friday the 20th of November.  If you had your heart on an item you were planning on purchasing for Christmas giving now is the time to place the order and be a part of our three day celebration.  Please convo us before placing your order so we can apply your discount.

Note:  Discount will not apply to handbags/purses/totes due to clearance prices already marked on all of those items. These are priced to make excellent Christmas gifts for the ladies on your list.

There are lots of new items in the store to choose from; here are a select few.

Candy Cane  Napkins                                                     Cowgirl Gift Bag

Yule Critters Gift Bag                                             Joel Dewberry Napkins

More at http://creativechics.etsy.com

I will be honest with you blog readers…I am amazed how many of you have enjoyed watching me redo this little apartment.  Thank you for following along and sending encouraging words.

Today my focus is my bedroom.  Here was the original empty room, measuring in at 12′ deep by 10′ wide.

With a window, sliding closet doors, door to my utilities that must have access for maintenance and the entry door my wall space seemed minimal compared to the 14′x16′ bedroom I left behind in my old house. So I opted to sell my queen size bed and purchase a twin bed much to the chagrin of my children who still toss and turn all night.  Not so with me, I either lie flat on my back or right side and I am out, snoring like a log!  Just ask my girls who spent a night with me in a hotel recently.

I am a little premature in showing you too much detail here as I still have not put the wall decor in place or my dresser top so I will put some emphasis on my two projects finished in the room.  The curtains, I love them, bright, cheerful, colorful yet classy and mixes all of the colors in the room in one place. My simple pattern of a rectangle and rings.

Every girl needs something with beads!  I love it on the plaid as it takes them up a notch from ordinary to classy.

How about that vintage headboard?  Craig’s List for $35.00 and it fit in my back seat!  The bright euro pillow is dark blush and picks up the colors in my green floral  Matelasse cover. The small striped pillow is the coordinating bedskirt.

And last but never least my area rug is 7 x 9 and almost fills the room bringing wonderful warmth and softness to my toes… And there by my bed is my faithful rocker all dressed up in new fabric too.

I am such an amateur at decorating but have often wondered if every ten years I needed to move just to allow me to redecorate every room in the house…I think if my husband was here he might say “amen” about now.

I am going to take some time this week to keep my promise to show you the process of making my small apartment home.  I completed the kitchen and showed you that now it is time to focus on the living room that adjoins the kitchen area.  The room measures 12‘.6” long by 10‘.6” wide. Here was how it looked before I started.  As you can see the kitchen and the living area adjoin very typical for an apartment.

Now here is the finished picture!

I already had all of the furniture so the new additions to the room were limited to a new area rug and lamp and of course a beautiful white hen and rooster.

I absolutely love it and think my basic pieces are great but the warmth of the room came when I added the area rug and curtains. Those items gave the classy, casual and cozy, look I enjoy. More photos up close.

A few details you might want to know.  I made the curtain topper  from 3 yards of black silk that was 60” wide, folded in half lengthwise I then created a rod pocket, added fringe, rings and cording every 24 inches and very simply had elegant yet casual looking curtain treatments over my JC Penny sheers.  The silk fabric was $7.99 a yard and the fringe was $15.99 a yard.  Purchasing both of them on sale at 50% off gave me a tremendous savings for a final cost of $36.00. If I had purchased anything similar in the stores my cost would have been 4 to 5 times more at least.  Curtains are so easy and I continue to urge you to give it a try next time you do your windows.

Area rugs are one of the cheapest ways we have to warm up a room.  This 9 x 11 rug was purchased at a discount upholstery and rug shop in Overland Park for slightly less than $150.00 but worth every penny for the comfort, cozy look and the quietness it brings to the room from the noises below me.  Always look for area rugs at discount prices otherwise they are not affordable additions; at least not on my budget.

Well long blog but hope when you drop by for coffee and cheesecake you will find this room inviting for chit chat about the latest in blog world, USA.

Here is a picture of the underside of my cabinet above my sink.

Now this is not noticeable anywhere but above the sink.  To say it was unsightly was an understatement as they had glued the cabinets and stapled them and the glue was oozing everywhere.  Deb and I looked at each other and she began saying, “make a curtain, staple it to the cabinets to cover that up!”  Well I agreed the idea of the curtain suspended above the sink was in order but staples, uh not sure about that method.  How about suspension rods.  Yep, that will work.

I bought a yard of black and white checkered fabric and in no time had the problem covered up and the look is rather cozy and very cute.

Now that was not the end of my gee whiz why would they do that?  My breaker box is in my entry way on the only wall available for hanging a picture, etc.  Now why would that have not been inside my laundry closet which is also in the entry way?  Builders really should consult women about these things Here was the wall in my entry next to my front door and the same fabric to fix it that I used over the sink.

Out of that yard of fabric I still had a piece left so my new (cheap) table has a tendency to mar easily so with a piece of black for backing, the embroidery pattern of a rooster and some quilt binding, I used every last thread.

Pretty darned good for $4.44 don’t you think?  There is always a fix and I love it when it requires more imagination than money!